The Snow-Colored Sakura
by SakuraFlowers99
Summary: After the fire that leaves her an orphan, Sakura Umenokoji is taken in by her aunt. While she is the only twin that survived the fire, she is listed as the one who died in the fire. Sakura is forced to pretend to be her brother and as a result, loses all of her friends. Her aunt enrolls her in Ouran Academy and Sakura ends up meeting the Host Club. Will she make new friends?
1. Chapter 1

**The Snow-Colored Sakura**

**Chapter 1: Shakuhachi**

**Author's Notes: This is my first OHSHC fanfic. Enjoy!**

Dear Diary,

_Every day, I take pink origami paper and from my hands, sakura bloom. Around me on the walls are all the sakura flowers I have made ever since my brother died in that fire that was supposed to take my life. Everything in my life has changed so much that I'm not even sure if things will ever return back to normal. My aunt enrolled me into Ouran Academy and I just want to stay at home. There's no point in going to school if I can't be myself._

-Sakura

The first day Sakura Umenokoji stepped onto Ouran Academy's grounds, she felt something different. It seemed so much different from her other school, where people just clustered in their own little groups and whispered mean things about students passing by. At Ouran, everyone was friendly to each other. They all seemed to smile and laugh as if life was perfect. Sakura envied each and every one of them. They had lots of friends to be with, while she had no one. All her friends from her old school believed she was dead, just like everybody else who heard about the fire. Sakura had started to distance herself away from people, preferring to be by herself instead of with other people.

As Sakura was walking along the path, she stopped under the cherry tree and looked up at the pink blossoms. Some of the girls walking by stared admiringly at her, but she paid no attention to them. Sakura Umenokoji had long black hair that was tied into a high ponytail. The white hair ribbon that tied back her hair danced in the wind, making her look just like a samurai. Ever since her brother had died, her aunt had insisted that she pretend to be her brother, which was something she never understood. Her aunt had listed her name down as the twin who had died in the fire and her brother's as the twin who had survived. Their mother and father had also died in that fire and even now, nobody knew how the fire had started. Sakura was now going to school under the name of Yukiko Umenokoji, a first-year in high school. The uniform was alright, but she would've worn the girls' uniform if she had a choice.

The most noticeable feature that drew everybody's eyes to hers was the unusual color of her eyes. Sakura had piercingly silver eyes and a somewhat unreadable expression on her face. Her eyes had a mysterious sadness, which usually drove the girls to have a fan girl attack. After looking up at the cherry blossoms for a minute or two, she walked inside the building and went to find her class. The building was extremely elegant and beautiful with their beautiful pink walls and gleaming chandeliers. After wandering around for a little bit, Sakura found her classroom, 1-A. When class started, she was at the front of the room, introducing herself. There was another boy behind her, the scholarship student.

"My name is Yukiko Umenokoji. Starting today, please take care of me," Sakura spoke, bowing in front of her new classmates. The girls in the front row went crazy after right after she said that, as expected. What caught her eye were the two orange-haired twins. They seemed to be watching her with their strangely golden eyes. Sakura suddenly took a sharp breath as she seemed to see her brother, watching her from the crowd. She hurried to her seat, her thoughts whirling about and inside, she was crying. The scholarship student quickly introduced himself. He seemed to be in a hurry to get out of the public eye, which was something she could relate to personally. When she heard the name Haruhi Fujioka, she was shocked. Haruhi was her childhood friend from when her mom and Kotoko Fujioka were friends. Why was she here? The teacher directed her to a seat right next to Haruhi. She had cut her long brown hair and now wore thick glasses. Haruhi was wearing a baggy brown sweater, which was a rather strange clothing choice. Sakura noticed that she had changed so much since they were little. Class began and soon, it was lunch time. Sakura went over and walked next to her as they went down to the dining hall.

"Do you remember me, Haruhi?" Sakura asked quietly. Haruhi jumped, seemingly startled. She turned around and stared with shock at Sakura. Sakura doubted that Haruhi would remember her from the way she looked now. Her appearance was exactly like her brother's and not like herself.

"No, I don't remember you. Perhaps you have the wrong person?"Haruhi spoke hesitantly. Sakura realized with a sigh that Haruhi wouldn't have remembered her. It had been so many years ago since they had last played together. She turned around and left the dining hall and wandered around Ouran. Sakura found herself outside under the same sakura tree that she had stopped under in the morning. She sat down, took out her flute, and began to play softly. The sounds of her flute echoed throughout the school and reached the ears of the Host Club. They were eating lunch in the club room and had suddenly heard the sweet sounds of a flute being played outside.

"Isn't it pretty, Takashi?" Honey asked cheerfully. Takashi nodded, silent as usual. The twins were listening intently, wondering who was playing the flute. Kyoya was sitting there on his computer as he always did, expressionless. Tamaki, however, was listening to the sound with an extremely ecstatic look on his face.

"Kyoya, what if this person could be potential Host Club material? We could use his musical talents to bring in more ladies!" Tamaki spoke eagerly. Kyoya looked up from whatever he was typing and turned around to face him.

"The chance of the person being a female student is more likely than a male student. It is, however, worth investigating," Kyoya replied. He whipped out his calculator and began furiously typing on the keys to see how much profit the flute-playing student could potentially bring.

"It is our mission to find this mysterious, flute-playing student as soon as possible! Search in all the classrooms for this person!" Tamaki ordered as he suddenly stood up from his chair.

"Yes, sir!" The twins, Honey, and Mori saluted back in reply. Kyoya searched through the data base to find the mysterious student. The student was most likely a new student who had recently transferred to Ouran. He could deduce this because of the fact that none of the students that had previously attended last year had played flute. The only students that had transferred over to Ouran were the scholarship student and a student named Yukiko Umenokoji. Clicking on Yukiko's information file, he noticed that Yukiko was soon to be the heir of the Umenokoji Law Firms and played shakuhachi (Japanese flute). This was the student they were looking for. Yukiko Umenokoji.

**Author's Notes: What will happen to Sakura next? Will she meet the Host Club? Read on to find out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Snow-Colored Sakura**

**Chapter 2: The Host Club**

**Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait! Here's Chapter 2!**

After school, Sakura was about to head home when the twins blocked her path. They wore identical smiles that gave her the shivers. It was a devious smile that boded no good. Sakura tried to walk past them, but they would not budge. She sighed and whipped out her phone, dialing her aunt's phone number.

"I have something after school, so don't pick me up for a while. Bye," Sakura spoke, ignoring her aunt's frantic protests on the end. After hitting end, she looked up at the twins, a perfectly calm expression on her face.

"Is there anything you two need from me?" Sakura asked. They looked at each other with satisfied smirks on their faces as they started walking out the door and down the hallway. She followed them, listening carefully to see if they had planned to ambush her in any sort of way. The twins led her to the entrance of Music Room #3, a seemingly abandoned room, and opened the doors. Rose petals wafted out as Sakura stepped inside the brightly lit room. What she then saw amazed her beyond comprehension.

There were chairs and tables all over the room, comfortable and extremely elegant. Lots of girl students sat with one or two boys and eager conversation was heard from all tables. Tea cups and sweets adorned the tables. On each table was a beautiful bouquet of red roses that made Sakura wonder exactly what she got herself into. As soon as Sakura had taken a few steps forward, the handsome blonde rushed towards her and eagerly shook her hand. The other guys talking to the ladies stood up and came over, quite curious to see what was going on.

"Welcome to the Host Club! I am Tamaki, King of the Host Club! That person over there is Kyoya, the twins are Hikaru and Kaoru, the loli shota is Honey-sempai, and the tall person next to Honey-sempai is Mori-sempai. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have you see what the Host Club is like! You're Yukiko Umenokoji, right? If you joined the Host Club, you could use your good looks on the ladies and be extremely popular with them," Tamaki spoke eagerly. His violet eyes gazed deeply into hers as he leaned in closer to get a good look at her face.

Enraged at such rude behavior, she took a hidden knife from her hair was about to stab him with it when Honey-sempai hit her wrist and sent the knife flying across the room. Sakura shoved the annoying Tamaki out of the way as she watched Honey-sempai with narrowed eyes. He looked short and innocent, but she could tell right away that he was a martial arts master. Sakura would have to watch him carefully. Right next to him stood Mori-sempai, his enormous figure quite intimidating. That boy was also a martial arts master and by the looks of it, Honey-sempai's protector.

"Why did you try to hurt Tama-chan? He didn't mean to offend you," Honey-sempai asked tearfully. Sakura gave a sigh and took a deep breath so she could calm down. Tamaki was crying in the corner while Hikaru and Kaoru tried to comfort him. Kyoya stepped forward, his expression calculating and cold.

"Yukiko-kun, we would like to recruit you to join the Host Club. You would make a very good host," Kyoya offered. His smile was a seemingly friendly one, but Sakura could feel a darkness underneath it that was almost frightening.

"Is there a reason why I should join when I don't even know if I can trust you guys? I've already done enough by coming here," Sakura returned in a low voice, her eyes narrowed and dark. She walked towards the door, but Mori-sempai blocked her path. Reaching for another knife in her hair, she hurled it at him and dashed for the exit. He caught her arm and his dark eyes caught hers. Frightened, Sakura desperately tried to pull her arm away, but he held fast to her arm. She knew she had to get out of here.

With her extremely long nails, Sakura scratched at him until blood began to appear. When he let go of her arm briefly, she turned to leave, but then realized what she had done. Long scratches of blood were visible on the boy's arm and horrified, Sakura staggered and backed away. Her eyes began to fill with tears and soon her vision was completely obscured. All she could see was blood and the Host Club looking at Mori-sempai's arm. Before they turned around to look at her, she bolted out the front door and soon found herself outside again, in the crisp cold air. Sakura fled as fast as her legs could carry her, wanting to get as far away as possible from the school. She found herself under the same sakura tree and sat down underneath it. Leaning against the trunk, she felt its comforting, familiar presence wrapping itself around her.

"I've already ruined everything. There's no way I can start over now," she whispered, burying her face into her knees. A tear trailed from her eye as she began to cry silently as the wind blew past mournfully. Meanwhile in Music Room #3, the twins were bandaging up Mori-sempai's arm. Tamaki was talking to Kyoya about what had just happened. Honey was standing tearfully by Mori, clutching his stuffed bunny.

"It was rather surprising, the way he reacted to Mori. Normal people would not have reacted in such a way," Kyoya noted. Tamaki nodded in agreement and they watched as the twins finished bandaging the boy's arm.

"Tono, wasn't there a fire years ago that burned down the Umenokoji mansion?" Hikaru asked, standing up. All the other hosts looked at him curiously, not quite understanding where the conversation was going.

"There was apparently a fire that suddenly started in the mansion at night. Yukiko's parents were killed as well as Yukiko's twin sister, Sakura. Yukiko was later adopted by his aunt, Meiko Umenokoji, and is currently the heir to his late father's law firm," Kyoya answered, pushing his glasses up his nose. Taking out his notebook, he started scribbling something down. Kaoru went over to Hikaru and put his arm on Hikaru's shoulder.

"We should help him out since he lost his twin sister. It's hard to go through something like that," Kaoru spoke. The rest of the hosts murmured in approval and Tamaki dashed forward, his violet eyes filled with sparkling tears.

"Oh, this is simply touching! We must help those in need whether it's the ladies or the handsome Host Club potentials!" Tamaki cried dramatically. Hikaru pushed Kaoru's arm off, looking annoyed.

"Why do we need to help him? He hurt Mori-sempai!" Hikaru asked angrily. He turned away and looked out the window, watching sakura petals whirl through the air. Hikaru noticed Kaoru looking intently out the window at something below. After squinting his eyes, he saw Yukiko huddled under a sakura tree with his head buried in between his legs. Hikaru suddenly understood what his brother had been trying to tell him. Yukiko had just transferred from a faraway school to a school where he knew nobody. After losing his twin, he had no one to talk to. Yukiko was just as alone as they had been in middle school, unable to trust anyone.

"Let's go help, Kaoru," Hikaru murmured. And with those four words, the twins left the room. The only sound in the room was the sound of Kyoya's fingers tapping on the keyboard. Tamaki stood right next to Kyoya, his eyes quickly scanning the data results.

"Something's strange with these data results, Kyoya," Tamaki spoke, his expression serious. Kyoya examined the data and found that Tamaki was indeed right. Yukiko had no history of learning any type of martial arts and yet the Yukiko they had met knew how to throw knives quite skillfully. The Yukiko they had met had facial features that were very close to the picture on the screen, but didn't quite match up exactly. There was definitely something suspicious going on here. After a moment's thought, he searched up his twin sister, Sakura, to see if she had any history of learning martial arts. The data results came up and Kyoya saw the proof right in front of his eyes. He sat back in his chair and stared at the picture of Sakura, the twin who was supposed to have died in the fire and yet was at Ouran while being disguised at her brother. Yet what confused him was that the investigation of the Umenokoji fire clearly proved that the twin who had died was the sister, not the brother. What exactly happened the night of the fire? Why had the investigation revealed false results?

"By looking at the data, it appears that the Yukiko we just met wasn't Yukiko, but his sister, Sakura," Kyoya announced to the others. Honey looked up, shocked, while Mori's eyes widened in disbelief. Tamaki paced the room, apparently deep in thought. After pacing for a while, he stopped and turned around, his expression determined.

"We need to gain Sakura's trust because that's the only way she'll agree to be a host. Even though she's a girl, there is no way for her right now to reveal the truth. If she's able to trust us, we can support and help as friends. What the twins did was, indeed, the right choice. Now it's up to her whether to trust us or not." Tamaki pointed his finger at the rest of the Hosts and shouted, "It's Operation Make Sakura Trust Us!"

"Change the name, please. That name is just ridiculous," Kyoya sighed, rubbing his temples. This would be, with no doubt, a very tiring operation.

**Author's Notes: What will happen next? Will Sakura's trust be gained by the Host Club? Read on to find out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Snow-Colored Sakura**

**Chapter 3: A Secret Revealed**

**Author's Notes: After beginning to trust in the twins, Sakura tells the Host Club one of her greatest secrets. What will happen afterwards? Here's Chapter 3!**

Sakura, with her head buried in her knees, continued to cry silently. Hearing footsteps coming closer and closer, she got up and started to walk away. After taking a few steps forward, a warm hand lightly touched the palm of her hand, making her stop in her tracks. The hand did not seem threatening or angry in any sort of way. Turning around, she saw the twins standing right in front of her. Both of them seemed to have solemn expressions that made her feel again the shame of having injured Mori-sempai's arm.

"I'm sorry, okay…for injuring Mori-sempai's arm. If he wants, I'll pay for the treatment. It's my fault especially, for injuring his arm that badly. Tell the others that I'm really sorry, but I can't be in the Host Club. Especially after what I've done," Sakura said quietly, avoiding eye contact. The twins could tell she had only done that in self-defense. It was understandable that she would feel threatened.

"It's alright, Yukiko. Hikaru and I understand why you reacted in that way. The other hosts will forgive you and we really do want you to join." Kaoru smiled, putting his hand on her shoulder. Hikaru came over and put his hand on her other shoulder and gave her a devilish grin. Upon seeing his expression, Sakura began to laugh and cry at the same time. It had been a long time since she had been this happy.

"Thanks, Hikaru, Kaoru. I'll think about it for a while and when I've made up my mind, I'll tell you. I intend on joining, but I want to gain the other hosts' trust before joining. I want to make sure we can trust each other," Sakura answered with a smile on her face. The twins nodded in agreement. It was a very considerate thing to do for the other hosts. They would forgive him, but Yukiko wanted make sure himself that he was forgiven and could be trusted. Reaching into her pocket, Sakura took out one of her origami sakura and placed it in Kaoru's hands. Inside was a message she had written just in case she met anyone who could be trusted with her secret.

"I'm giving this to the Host Club as a gift. Once you are in the club room, let the sakura reveal a message to you. Written on it is one of my greatest secrets that no one but the Host Club can know. You need to know the truth about me. Although after reading it, you guys won't view me in the same way." Sakura walked away and soon disappeared in a whirl of sakura petals. Hikaru and Kaoru looked at the origami sakura and dashed as fast as they could back to Music Room #3 to tell the others what had happened.

The other hosts were sitting there in deep thought when the twins suddenly slammed the doors open and charged inside. Tamaki fell out of his chair in fright and ended up with a bruise on his head. He stood up and was beginning to shout furiously at the twins when he was stopped by the sight of the origami sakura. Hikaru took the origami sakura from Kaoru and put it in Tamaki's hands. Tamaki stared with confusion and guessed that it was from Sakura.

"Tono, there's apparently a message on the origami sakura. It's apparently Yukiko's greatest secret that he wanted us to tell you guys," Kaoru spoke hurriedly. The hosts gathered around and watched as Tamaki searched for the message on the petals. After examining the petals closely, he couldn't find the message at all. Mori, seeing black ink on the back of the petals, took the origami sakura and turned it over. On the back was a series of haiku that said:

The sakura blooms.

Fluttering pink petals brush

my up-lifted face.

The passing years have

flown by and yet every day,

I think about you.

A fire blossom

took you and my hope away.

It's forever gone.

The sparkling snow

that once covered everything

is now lost to spring.

The sakura blooms.

Yet without the winter snow,

it has lost its soul.

After reading the haikus, Kyoya sighed and closed his eyes. It had confirmed what they had found out. Sakura was really the one attending Ouran and Yukiko had long passed away. Hikaru looked at the sorrowful gaze of Tamaki and the others and became extremely confused. Kaoru stared at the haikus, not understanding the secret behind it.

"What does it mean? She tells us it's her greatest secret and yet on the back is only haikus that are just about nature and have no meaning!" Hikaru spoke furiously, quite frustrated because he could not understand the haikus as well. Honey looked up and his gaze was extremely serious.

"Kao-chan, Hika-chan, while you two were talking to Yuki-chan….we found something very shocking about Yuki-chan," Honey answered. The twins stared at him, their eyes widening in horror.

"It isn't something bad…. is it?" Kaoru whispered, his hand shaking. Hikaru grabbed Kaoru's arm and they clung onto each other, desperate for each other's support. The twins stared at Honey, who couldn't bear to look at them and had buried his face into Mori's lap. Mori was hugging Honey close to him with protective arms to comfort Honey, who was crying. Kyoya looked away for a few moments and then said, "Yukiko-kun passed away years ago."

The twins stood as still as stone as they tried to process this. Hikaru's face was twitching in rage as he ranted, "You're wrong! We were just talking to him! What you found out was wrong! It's nothing but a bad joke! It can't be true!" Kaoru was desperately struggling to hold Hikaru back and at the same time, tears flowed down his face. Tamaki suddenly stood up with a dark shadow over his face and shouted, "What Kyoya said just now was true! After we looked at the data, we found that his information and his facial features exactly match Sakura Umenokoji's profile. Those haikus on the back confirm that. They are talking about the fire and how it took her brother, Yukiko. Sakura is the sakura tree and Yukiko is the snow. If you don't believe it, read it again!"

Hikaru read the haikus again and when he finally realized that what they had said was true, he unclenched his fist and the origami sakura in his hand fell from his hand and floated to the ground. Kaoru suddenly remembered the words that Sakura had said to them before she left.

"She said that we wouldn't view her in the same way after reading her message," Kaoru murmured. Honey heard this and lifted his head while wiping away his tears with his sleeves. Looking up at Takashi's worried face, he smiled a small smile so that Takashi wouldn't be worried anymore. Mori gave him a small smile back as well, relieved that Mitsukuni wasn't sad anymore.

"Even though it's true our view of Sakura-chan has changed, the fact that she has been able to tell us this secret means that she indeed trusts us. It's up to us to help her out," Honey spoke loudly, his expression determined and serious. As he stood up, Mori stood up as well, his eyes hard and determined.

"It's our job," Mori said, his words short and to the point. Tamaki, having finally recovered, shot up from his seat, his violet eyes sparkling with determination.

"Our Ouran Host Club exists to bring fortune to the ladies. And since Sakura has come to us for help, we shall help her! No matter what happens, we shall do it!" Tamaki shouted, punching his fist in the air. The others nodded in agreement and it was agreed. They would help Sakura and together they would solve the mystery. Yet in each host's heart was the same thought that even so, Sakura had, in their view, changed. At first, she had been Yukiko and now she was Sakura. Why hadn't she told them from the beginning? They had just begun to form an image of her and now that they knew her true identity, it felt like she was a complete stranger.

The next morning was bright, beautiful, and extremely cheerful. The sky was a deep blue and the sunlight was warm as it shone on Sakura's face. Although it was a wonderful start of the day for other students, she was extremely twitchy and quite anxious. They must have read the message by now. What would they think of her? As Sakura was walking inside, she suddenly felt tired and staggered, almost bumping into a group of girl students. Hurriedly apologizing, she wondered why she was feeling so tired this early in the morning. Aunt Meiko had made Sakura eat all of her medications before coming to school. Sakura shouldn't be feeling tired until the medications wore off, which was late afternoon. As she leaned against the wall, she saw Hikaru and Kaoru coming by.

"Hey, Yukiko…..how are you?" Hikaru asked hesitantly. Both of their eyes were red from crying and immediately Sakura knew they had read the note. A wave of despair crashed over her as she noticed that they were not looking her in the eye. Instead of initiating eye contact, they looked away from her, apparently unable to look her in the eye.

"I knew it would be like this. I should've never told you!" Sakura shouted angrily as tears formed in her eyes. She bolted down the hallway as fast as she could and stopped when she was completely out of breath. Everything around Sakura seemed fuzzy and turned dark as she suddenly lost consciousness. Hikaru had been running after her, with Kaoru right behind him, and had found her lying unconscious on the ground. Hikaru lifted her up off the ground and ran back towards Kaoru. Kaoru was shocked to see Sakura being carried by Hikaru and was about to ask, but Hikaru interrupted him with, "Hurry, Hikaru! We have to get her to the nurse!"

**Author's Notes: After the secret is revealed, Sakura realizes the impact of it when Hikaru and Kaoru can't look her in the eye. While running away from them, she suddenly ends up fainting. What will happen next? Will they accept her for who she truly is? Read on to find out!**


End file.
